New and notable appointments at HealthBeacon, Workhuman and Carson McDowell

Pictured: Laurence Flavin, Chief Financial Officer, HealthBeacon

This week sees new and notable appointments at HealthBeacon, Workhuman and Carson McDowell

Laurence Flavin, Chief Financial Officer,
HealthBeacon

Digital Health Company, HealthBeacon, has announced the appointment of Laurence Flavin as Chief Financial Officer. The company has the world’s first digital – Injection Care Management System that drives adherence to therapy for patients on self-administered injectable medications.

Headquartered in Dublin and Boston based, the company is at a key growth inflection point having secured significant contracts with over 14 major pharmaceuticals, insurance and specialty pharmacies across the globe and implementing its ICMS technology, anchored by its FDA clear smart sharps bin, in 2020.

Highly experienced CFO and company builder, Laurence Flavin most recently helped build Finance Ireland into Ireland’s largest non-bank lender, raising over €1bn in equity and debt facilities.  A qualified chartered accountant,  Laurence has a broad base of experience working in capital markets, and taking a company public across Dublin and London, and managing corporate transactions.

Commenting on the appointment, Jim Joyce, CEO and Co-Founder, said “Laurence is a talented, driven, financial business leader with a proven reputation of building quality and high growth organisations. His experience in fund raising, scaling companies and working in a highly regulated sector makes him a great fit for HealthBeacon and we are delighted to have him on the team.”

HealthBeacon vision to build smart tools for managing medications saw the launch of the world’s first truly digital enabled injection care management system (ICMS) for the tens of millions of patients taking injectable medications at home. Patients on chronic treatments require digital, virtual and remote support to ensure taking treatment as prescribed and engaging with their condition. Medical Adherence studies have documented that approx 50% of patients fail on prescribed chronic medications in the first year of treatment, while HealthBeacon’s technology, increases the number of patients that will ultimately succeed on their treatment.

2020 is witnessing the world’s rapid adoption of digital, virtual and remote healthcare delivery for which HealthBeacon is at the forefront, having developed a leading technology platform for patients on chronic injectable treatment, a market projected to be worth over $300 billion by 2024.

In 2019 HealthBeacon completed a €12m Series A investment round and are in the process of completing an additional financing of between €3-5m anticipated to close in 2020. Investors in HealthBeacon include Enterprise Ireland, Oyster Capital, Cantor Fitzgerald, BVP, Elkstone Partners, Singapore’s SGInnovate and US-based Manatt.

Annrai O’Toole, Board of Directors,
Workhuman

Workhuman has appointed Utmost CEO Annrai O’Toole as an independent member of its Board of Directors. Eric Mosley, CEO Workhuman, commented on the appointment:

“Workhuman is on an incredible growth trajectory as more enterprises commit to galvanize their workforces in the new normal that’s been created as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re proud to be attracting such accomplished humans to help us accelerate toward our mission and get to the next level as a company. Annrai brings a wealth of deep expertise and experience as a seasoned executive that will help propel us along our journey and we are thrilled to welcome him to Workhuman.”

Annrai O’Toole is currently Founder and CEO of Utmost, the first extended workforce system. Prior to co-founding Utmost, Mr. O’Toole served as European CTO at Workday, where he also held several positions over his decade-long tenure. Mr. O’Toole was also instrumental in founding IONA Technologies in 1991, where he operated as Director and CTO, playing a key role in the organization’s eventual IPO in 1997. He later became Co-Founder and CEO of Cape Clear Software, an integration middleware company, which Workday acquired in 2008.

“If this global pandemic has reinforced one thing, it’s that a company’s ability to pivot and thrive is tied directly to the resilience of its culture; leveraging technologies such as Workhuman to spur greater connection and performance is vital to success,” said Mr. O’Toole. “I am excited to work with Eric, my fellow board members, and the leadership team to build even more value in Workhuman as we continue to bring more humanity to workplaces worldwide.”

Key Executives to Propel Growth

Workhuman has seen first-hand the power of Social Recognition throughout the COVID-19 pandemic In April 2020, for example, the company saw a 40% increase in revenue from April 2019 as companies doubled down on their Social Recognition programs for employees that have been traumatized by what was – and still is – going on in the world. During the pandemic, customers have turned to Workhuman and Social Recognition to keep their employees connected, engaged, and motivated. Merck, for example, introduced its Social Recognition program INSPIRE several years ago to keep employees engaged in a virtual workplace. During the pandemic, the continued recognition moments between peers, rather than manager-down, supported employee engagement in these challenging times.

To further propel the company’s rapid growth and expansion globally, Workhuman has introduced Emily Miller as VP of sales EMEA and Dave Clark as VP of customer success. Emily comes to Workhuman from Gartner, where she was managing vice president for the sales and marketing practice and led a team of 70 leaders, account, and sales executives across Europe and APAC. Based in the U.K., Emily will be responsible for overseeing and expanding Workhuman’s sales team in the EMEA region. Dave, who will be overseeing all teams related to customer success and contributing to the company’s stellar retention and net expansion rates, joins Workhuman from Lavastrom Analytics, where he spent the last six years in executive customer success and support roles.

Sinead Keavey, Head of Dublin Office,
Carson McDowell   

Pictured: Sinead Keavey, Head of Dublin Office, Carson McDowell

Sinead was previously a partner in William Fry’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department, where she represented a wide range of clients in the healthcare and regulated sectors in Ireland.  Sinead’s core practice involved defending clinical negligence claims brought against consultants and general practitioners, and representing healthcare professionals before the Irish Medical Council.  She also holds a Masters in Ethics from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Jacqueline McAleese, Head of Clinical Claims at Carson McDowell, said: “We have one of the largest, if not the largest, healthcare team on the island of Ireland and we continue to expand in response to the growing demand for medical indemnity legal expertise in both Dublin and Belfast. Sinead’s appointment is a signal of our intent in the market.”

Roger McMillan, Managing Partner of Carson McDowell, said: “We are delighted to have Sinead joining us as the head of the Dublin office to help the firm continue its growth trajectory. She is a highly regarded lawyer with vast experience of working with clients that the firm represents. Sinead will provide leadership to our growing team in Dublin.”

Sinead Keavey said: “I am excited to be joining Carson McDowell and am relishing the opportunity to drive the development of the firm’s presence in Dublin. Healthcare continues to be a growth area across Ireland and I look forward to working with the firm’s clients and sharing our expertise to help them address the challenges they face.  The firm has a reputation for an innovative and robust approach to managing clinical negligence claims in Ireland and I hope that I can enhance that reputation further.”

Carson McDowell has over 110 solicitors and more than 180 staff across its offices in Belfast and Dublin and is the largest independent law firm in Northern Ireland. It opened its Dublin office in 2016 and expanded into new offices in Windsor Place last year.